It's an unusually busy Sunday evening in the NHL with six games and the first pucks dropping at 7 p.m. EST. Here are my DFS lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
There are a lot of teams on the second day of a back-to-back. In fact, only two of the six matchups feature a rested side with Minnesota and Calgary playing each other and the Jets visiting the Ducks.
GOALIES
Casey DeSmith, DAL vs. SEA ($8,400): The Stars have a couple factors in their favor with them being at home and they started on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST while the Kraken kicked off at 7. DeSmith has struggled in his four appearances, though he's usually a steady backup with a career .909 save percentage. He may be set for a solid outing as Seattle sits bottom-eight in goals and shots per game.
Filip Gustavsson, MIN vs. CGY ($8,200): It's been an up-and-down season for Gustavsson, but he's posted a 2.74 GAA and .910 save percentage over his last four starts. That level of play is sufficient with the Flames coming to town as they've only recorded 2.19 goals per game.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Matt Boldy, MIN vs. CGY ($7,900): Dustin Wolf enters with an .892 save percentage while the Flames have allowed an average of 30.3 shots with a subpar penalty kill. Boldy has tallied eight points with the extra man to go with 52 shots and should have enough opportunities on Sunday to get on the scoresheet.
Wyatt Johnston, DAL vs. SEA ($7,100): Johnston logs a lot of minutes and his legs are going to be well-used from Saturday, but he's 22 and participates on Dallas's top power play. He's also already notched two three-point performances during November and picked up two on Saturday. Things are bleak in net for the Kraken with Joey Daccord on injured reserve and Sunday's projected starter Matt Murray not being a regular NHL goalie since 2022-23 with an .899 save percentage since 2019-20.
FORWARD LINE STACKS TO CONSIDER
Jets vs. Ducks
Jonathan Toews (C - $3,700), Alex Iafallo (W - $3,800), Vladislav Namestnikov (W - $3,500)
I looked to the Jets for a stack on Sunday as they're the only rested team playing a squad that was in action Saturday. Even though the Ducks saved Lukas Dostal, his last couple appearances have been subpar. Winnipeg boasts a great first line, yet I'm going with their second unit to save some salary.
In Toews' return, he's registered two goals and five assists through 14 games. He wasn't shooting much early on, but has directed multiple pucks on net from three of his last four outings. Iafallo is at five points with an 8.3 shooting percentage that should improve. Four of his points have also come on the power play while Anaheim maintains a below-average penalty kill. Namestnikov isn't normally a goal scorer, yet he's got six so far to go with 20 shots across seven matchups.
Mammoth at Senators
Logan Cooley (C - $6,100), Clayton Keller (W - $6,700), Nick Schmaltz (W - $6,500)
You know what minutes are easier on your legs? Man-advantage minutes. These three Utah forwards participate on the lead unit. And the Sens rank worst on the penalty kill. That makes for a fairly easy stack decision.
Cooley has cooled down, though has racked up eight goals and four assists on the year. He's also posted four PPPs after 20 last season. Keller hasn't been as consistent, but he's managed at least 30 goals and 76 points in each of the last three campaigns. And even with a slow start by his standards, he's still supplied five power-play assists. Schmaltz has been the biggest surprise for the Mammoth as he's up to eight goals, 10 assists, and 46 shots.
DEFENSEMEN
Mikhail Sergachev, UTA at OTT ($5,400): Sergachev started slow, but the floodgates are open with 11 points in the last nine games - including five while up a man. And as just mentioned, Ottawa sits last on the penalty kill.
Dylan DeMelo, WPG vs. ANA ($3,600): I didn't want to recommend Sergachev and Josh Morrissey as that would involve too much blueline salary. So here's a shoutout to DeMelo, who skates on the first pairing with Morrissey and has seven points. The Ducks played Saturday and have to go on the road against a rested team. Even with Lukas Dostal in net, it's worth a shot as a single goal/assist from DeMelo would be great DFS value.
